PS4 Camera will offer voice control, facial recognition

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One of the features of Kinect v2 on Xbox One that Microsoft keeps highlighting is the voice control it offers up. You can turn on your Xbox One with a voice command. Neat. Kinect can also figure out who is holding a controller, a feature that will be put to good use inKiller Instinct.

But it looks as though such features aren’t going to be limited to Xbox One. Sony has hinted at similar features being available when you use the PlayStation Camera with PS4.

No specifics have been divulged yet, but a spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has confirmed that the PlayStation Camera is capable of voice recognition and therefore voice command input. Will it allow you to turn the PS4 on? Maybe, but Sony has said it will talk about the feature more in the near future.

The Camera is also capable of facial recognition, which when combined with voice control must mean it can handle many of the same inputs and automatic game setting changes the Xbox One with Kinect has. Motion control won’t be on a par with Kinect, but so far the focus (by Microsoft) has been on promoting voice and gamer recognition. I’m still waiting to see the compelling reason to use motion control on Xbox One.

Further evidence of these features comes from the GameStop Expo that was held in Las Vegas last week. A slide Sony showed claims voice and facial recognition are features they have implemented. You can see it for yourself above and at the 5m 30s mark in the video below:

Is this another blow for Microsoft? Maybe. It depends just how close in functionality the PS4 Camera is to the Kinect in terms of voice control and player recognition. If PS4 can match it, then it removes such features from the equation as to why you should choose Xbox One over PS4.